Late Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe CFR was a Nigerian banker and businessman. He was the group managing director and CEO of Access Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s top five banking institutions, after succeeding his business partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.
Wigwe started his career at Coopers & Lybrand and Guaranty Trust Bank before joining Access Bank in 2002 as the company’s deputy managing director. He became the chief executive officer of the company in January 2014. He died in a helicopter crash on 9 February 2024 in the United States on his way to attend the Super Bowl LVIII championship in Las Vegas.
Early life and education
Late Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe was born on 15 August 1966, in Isiokpo, Rivers State or Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. His father was the head of the Nigerian Television Authority and his mother was a nurse. Wigwe earned a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1987.
In 1990, he received the British council scholarship to study at the University College of North Wales (now Bangor University), earning a Master of Arts in banking and finance in 1991. He later earned a MSc in financial economics from the University of London in 1996. He attended the Harvard Business School executive management program, and in 2018 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Career
Wigwe started his career at Coopers & Lybrand as a management consultant in the late 1980s, becoming a chartered accountant in 1989. He later joined Guaranty Trust Bank, where he worked for over a decade and eventually became executive director around 1998.
In 2002, Wigwe and his business partner Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede bought Access Bank. Their purchase was delayed over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s concerns the pair were too young to own a bank. Between 2002 and 2017, the bank grew to become the 4th largest bank in Nigeria. Between 2002 and 2014 he served as the company’s deputy managing director. Wigwe also served as the chairman of Access Bank Ghana Limited starting in 2013. From January 2014 until his death, he was CEO and group managing director of Access Bank.
In 2018 Access Bank merged with competitor Diamond Bank, making it the largest bank in Nigeria. He had planned to expand the bank into Asia in early 2024, but died before any expansion officially launched.
Wigwe was involved in the creation of a leadership series known as the Access Conference. The biennial event is Access Bank’s response to a global call for corporate involvement in resolving the major challenges facing humanity. Since its inauguration in 2013, the Access Conference has consistently engaged global leaders by provoking debates on issues of threats and opportunities to the world. In the 2013 edition, themed “Sustainable Leadership”, Wigwe spoke alongside George W. Bush, Nicolas Sarkozy and John Kufuor, reaffirming the importance of leadership to national and corporate successes.
At the 2015 edition, Wigwe hosted global leaders such as Steve Wozniak, N. R. Narayana Murthy, José María Figueres, Muhammad Yunus to discuss the theme “Leading in a Transformational World – The Imperative of Innovation”.
Wigwe, Access Bank and UNICEF collaborated to offer support to vulnerable children, orphans, and internally displaced persons in the northern part of Nigeria. To raise awareness for this purpose, the bank organises the annual high-profile Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament.
In 2016, Wigwe founded The HOW Foundation, a non-profit organisation.
In February 2017, he was named co-chair of Nigerian Business Coalition against AIDS,a private sector initiative to help eradicate HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and support people living with the condition.
Wigwe University, a private university founded by Wigwe, was set to open in September 2024.
Personal life
Wigwe was married to Chizoba Wigwe (née Nwuba) and had four children.
Source:wikipedia
